FOR ADAM KIRBY, IT’S UP, UP AND AWAY IN HIS BEAUTIFUL BALLOON!

By Dave Person david.r.person@gmail.com

For Adam Kirby, there’s nothing like floating over treetops at the speed of wind.

“It’s an adrenaline rush for me,” the Scotts resident says of piloting his hot-air balloon. “Once I get above the trees, (cares and concerns) just go away. …. I love it.” Kirby, 34, says his passion for hot-air balloons began several years ago.

“When I was a young boy my parents’ neighbors had a hot-air balloon and they would ask us to crew,” he says.

Crewing involves setting up the balloon, inflating the envelope, then chasing it in a ground vehicle and seeking permission for it to land if it is descending onto private property.

“As I got older, I helped the neighbors more and more and started going to more and more balloon events.,” he says. “In 2016 or 17 I was at an event and decided I was going to buy a hot-air balloon.”

Hot-air balloons can be costly, all the way up to $100,000 or so for a new one, but Kirby found a small, used balloon in Pennsylvania for five grand. The 77,000 cubic-foot envelope — the colorful fabric that is inflated by hot air — hoists a basket that holds two or three people.

“That’s considered a small sports balloon,” he says. “I can take myself and two others, depending on their body size. When it’s hot out I usually take myself and one other person. It’s more comfortable in my basket.”

Kirby keeps the balloon at his home in a 6-by-12 enclosed trailer that is ready to be hooked up to his truck.

“The truck is usually gassed up and the balloon has (propane) fuel in it,” he says,

He takes the balloon up once or twice a month when the weather cooperates and he’s not busy at his job painting airplanes at Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek. “The only thing I have to do to fly is call (Federal Aviation Administration) Flight Service and tell them where I’m going to fly,” he says.

Then after assembling a ground crew, he heads for Flesher Field in Oshtemo Township, a popular launching spot for balloonists.

“We’ve had balloons flying from there for 45-plus years,” he says.

Once the envelope is inflated and he heads toward the sky, Kirby is at the mercy of the wind for the next 45 minutes to an hour.

“We have a typical idea of where we’re going to stop or where we’re going to fly to,” he says.

“(But) it all depends on how fast the wind is blowing. Sometimes you can go a couple of miles; sometimes you go a mile.” When he sees a good place to land — a field or someone’s yard — Kirby will radio the location to his ground crew who will attempt to contact the property owner for permission to land.

‘It’s very exciting to see the countryside and the world, and you meet people who are very excited that you decided to land in their yard,” he says.

Sometimes neighbors will stream over and it becomes almost like a welcome-home party.

“A lot of times when you come in at the treetops, people feel you are crashing,” he says. “We’re not crashing, we’re just having fun. The trees kind of grab it and (slow it down).” gers up but not charge them. A commercial license is required in order to fly for pay.

Kirby says it took several years to get his private balloon pilot’s license. He had to study for and pass an FAA written test, fly for a minimum of 10 hours with a commercial pilot and then fly with a designated pilot examiner.

In addition to flying his own balloon, Kirby helps crew for the Michigan Balloon Corp., one of a handful of companies that takes paying customers for rides. That allows him to experience larger balloons.

“I fly a balloon with a 180,000 cubic-foot envelope that carries up to eight passengers,” he says.

In those cases he flies under the command of commercial pilots. “I am flying the balloon as instruction time (toward a commercial pilot’s license), but I am not receiving any pay at all,” he says.

One of the best parts of working with the commercial balloon flights is observing the reactions of those who are flying in a balloon for the first time.

“We’ve had people so terrified … (before they go up but) by the time they land they’re laughing, they’re smiling, they say they’re coming back and bringing their girlfriend or family with them.”

Kirby says he enjoys flying his balloon at events around Michigan, with the annual Kalamazoo Balloon Fest, at Gull Meadow Farms on Gull Road between Kalamazoo and Richland, one of his favorites.

His balloon also gets tested routinely. “I am required to get an inspection every year or every 100 hours that it is in the air,” he says.

His private pilot’s license allows Kirby to take passen-

This year’s festival, the 10th annual, is Aug. 11-13. It is free but parking on-site is $5.

“That’s a terrific event, very family friendly,” Kirby says. “The friendly, fun type of events is what I grew up around so that’s what I like to stick to.”